The Textbook: An ACIDS Test.

Textbooks dominate undergraduate college training. With their numbers increasing each year, trial and error is no longer an adequate selection procedure. This article recommends that in order to select a textbook a faculty member first needs to understand how the text is produced. then needs to apply criteria which allow for relative comparisons between texts using the instructor's own classroom as a reference point. The article introduces an ACIDS Test for textbook selection based upon appeal, coverage, interest, difficulty, and salesmanship. The article concludes with suggestions to motivate students to read the textbook. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]